Dark is the night for all
by KatofDresden
Summary: Avengers - film noir AU. New York, 1952. NYC good-guy cop Phil Coulson is missing and everyone blames Loki Silvertongue, private eye. To prove his innocence he'll talk to many people: World War II vet Steve Rogers, arms dealer and mobster Tony Stark and even his estranged brother, boxing star Thor "God of Thunder". But he won't be alone. By his side is his partner, Clint Barton.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cloudy day in 1952 and pickpockets, mobsters, small time thieves and other rascals shared the New York streets with corrupt cops, corrupt judges and a few honest men and women.

It was dark, darker than it should be.

In one of those streets, Clint Barton walked to his office, calm.

The office didn't have the best lighting or the best location but when Detective Barton set foot on it, it felt like home. Silvertongue and Barton investigations, it said on the door but, let's face it, only one out of ten clients ever came to see him. This is the _Hawkeye_, his partner would introduce him, the man with the deadliest aim of this great country. Nevertheless, most people came to see the other half of the investigating duo. But he didn't care - Clint was just happy to be a part of it. He was happy that of all the partners in New York, Loki had chosen him.

"You have heart." He told him, long ago. "A heart of gold. Precisely the very thing I lack."

Loki pretended to be on the verge of evil, almost a criminal, a wild card. But Clint could see through it - he wasn't half as bad as people painted him. He was just lonely and a bit peculiar. He'd gotten a bit famous for his strange methods: the lies, the manipulation, the little tricks. Loki was terribly fond of magic and his parlour tricks had helped solve quite a lot of cases. His methods weren't orthodox, sometimes they weren't even legal- but they solved the cases. You didn't get much smarter than Loki Silvertongue. Hated by cops, estranged from his family; Loki was a lonesome individual, but no one had trouble going to him when they had a problem.

Clint himself used to be one of those cops who hated him. He was a young hot-headed cop, always following the orders of Commissioner Fury - no questions asked. And if Fury hated Loki then he probably had good reason, Clint used to think, hating as well. He was a good cop, not excessively ambitious but with morals: the kind of cop you can't buy. Which had given him problems with the mob on more than one occasion. He'd got off without problems thanks to his aim, until he was too outnumbered. One dark rainy night, on a deserted alley they ambushed him. Stark's men, probably, seven of them with more guns than he could count, and snipers, just in case. Loki had appeared seemingly out of nowhere (another one of his tricks) and snatched him out of there. So, when he asked him to work with him, he didn't hesitate.

And after the hate, there was the opposite. Clint was fascinated by the man, how he moved, how he acted, how intelligent he was. He followed his lead, anywhere, everywhere, even doing things an outsider could consider shady. His girlfriend, Nat, had been scared that he was somehow being brainwashed or something of the sort, always following Loki. With time, Clint had set some distance between them and made a name for himself on the P.I. business - it wasn't easy, but he was good.

That morning he found Loki behind his desk, reading some yellowed book.

"What you reading?"

"Old Norse myths. Lovely stories."

Loki was pale as a sheet, too thin and had bright green eyes. He was wearing only a white shirt and a green tie, the jacket, the hat and the trench coat thrown carelessly on the windowsill behind him. And his hair fell past his ears and sometimes shadowed half his face, even his eyes.

"When are you going to get a proper haircut, man?"

"Who knows? Probably the day you go to the authorities and tell them you live with a russian spy." Which meant never.

Loki was one of the few people aware of Nat's true identity. She was Natalie Roman here, but she'd been Natasha Romanoff not so long ago.

Clint sat on his desk and started reading the newspaper. Nothing, nothing, boring things about... Until something interesting appeared. Something not good. Something that could get his partner (and probably himself as well) in a world of trouble.

"Loki...I think you should see this."

The taller man was behind him in seconds, looking at the newspaper.

"Oh, boy."

**POLICE OFFICER MISSING**

_NYPD offers a reward for anyone with information concerning the whereabouts of Officer Coulson._

Clint read it quickly.

"They found blood at the scene... neighbours reported hearing shots around midnight... "

"They are going to say it's me." Loki declared. "You heard Fury saying that I had made him very desperate, that he was going to put me away for good. This is the perfect way to get everyone against me."

"This is the guy who shot you, right?"

Four years ago. With an experimental gun. Right in the chest. He almost died.

And they had ruled it out as self-defence, even if Loki was only using a trick in which he pretended to stab him.

"Which gives me motive." Loki concluded, unhappy. This could go downhill very fast.

"But I was with you at your place from six p.m to three a.m.!" It had been a long night. Nat was off doing some shady spy business and Clint was sad and worried for her and so he went to Loki's, where they drank too much scotch. Way too much. "You have an alibi."

"But you are not the most unbiased source, are you? You could be lying to protect me because if I was charged you would lose half of your clients." No, that wasn't a good alibi.

"Half? Three quarters of them, easy." Clint admitted. "But you're right. Fury and everyone else will point their fingers at you, the guy had no enemies and getting revenge on the man who almost killed you seems a pretty good motive."

He sighed. Loki looked down - when one problem disappeared, another one appeared.

But Clint had an idea. _Get them before they get you._

"Well, then we have no other alternative than finding the actual guilty party before they invent some evidence against you. We find them, get them to confess and you're free."

Loki looked at his partner, grateful but careful. It was nice to have someone to watch your back but he had already asked too much of Barton.

"You realise there's no client on this one, right, Barton? No economic compensation whatsoever."

He knew Barton wasn't in it for the money, but still. He had to warn him.

"If you get convicted, friend, that's when my economy goes to the gutter."

Loki smiled at him, what was pretty rare and Clint winked at him.

"Where do we start?" Loki asked, going to back to the article. Clint did so too, looking for possible clues. There was no time to lose.

"Here it says that the next door neighbour saw a shadow leaving the place after the shooting." Clint mentioned. "A man called Steven Rogers, a world war two vet. He could know something."

"Well then, Detective Barton, it seems we have a new case."

They took their hats and trench coats and were back again in the dangerous streets of the city.

Ready for action.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve Rogers was looking at the ice on his glass of scotch. The ice, always following him.

Police have been on his neighbour's flat all day and he wished it was over. He wished they would leave him alone with his memories, and his little frozen life. His memories of war, when they called him Captain America. He'd been so patriotic and heroic. And all for what? He lost his best friend. He fell on the ice, almost got frozen. Thinking he was dead, Peggy accepted a transfer to Ukraine. He couldn't locate her now, even if he wanted to. Without the war, he was lost in a world he didn't understand. He'd lost everything and everyone after that war.

He lost everything and for what? To defend a country that was now plagued by crime, corruption and darkness. Where were the values he defended? Where were the honest decent people who he thought he was defending against the nazis? When he went out on the streets he could only see thieves, gangsters, manipulative women, people made rich by the war. Even the law officers had become corrupt and ambitious. One couldn't trust anyone in these dark times.

Phil Coulson had been a change from all of them, a nice breather. He was a good man, honest, dutiful and he'd admired Steve for his deeds on the war. He was a good american and a good cop. They talked about justice and becoming old-fashioned in a too-fast-moving world. A world where the stars and stripes, as the values they symbolised, seemed to be meaningless.

But he'd been mixed in a shady business and had told Steve one drunken night. A shady business that involved the police high-powers working with bad people, doing questionable things. Trying to make profit by putting lives in danger. Even cops. A very dark business indeed. They didn't know that Steve knew, and that the way it should stay. Phil had told him not to say anything, because not only his job as a cop would be in danger but the powerful people behind it could try to take him out, silence him for good. Like they were trying to take out the man in front of him.

Silvertongue.

Tall, lean, pale like a ghost, wearing a shirt with an old green tie that matched his eyes and a black trenchcoat. His hat shadowed his face while he looked around the house. Not much there to see.

He had come with his partner, Barton, trying to find out who the hell was behind everything before they locked him up for good. It was normal that they tried but Steve didn't think he had much choice. If the big guns out there wanted him gone then there probably wasn't much he could do.

"Could you tell us exactly what you saw?" Barton asked, pacing a bit. He was wearing a trench coat and a suit, and they looked good. He looked nervous.

"It was only a shadow. The shadow of a man. I can't tell you more." He promised Coulson he wouldn't say a thing. Steve can't betray that trust, can't break the promise he made.

"Do you of anyone who would want to hurt your neighbour?"

"Him." He says, pointing at Loki. "I know what Phil did to ya. Almost died, right? And no one paid for it."

If he couldn't tell the truth without breaking his promise, then the easiest thing would be to stick to the official version.

_Well, this is going nowhere. _Loki thought, feeling increasingly hopeless.

"It wasn't him. I was with him all night, couldn't have been him." Clint said, angry. "Do you know of anyone else?"

"Coulson had no enemies, he was a good man. People loved him, on the neighborhood and on the job. No one had any reason to hurt him."

That much, at least, was true. People loved Coulson. That was why it was so grave that he was gone. Why the whole power of the law would do their best to crush this man.

They were silent for a while. Loki knew the man was holding himself back, but decided to let it go. Let his conscience do the job. He was an honest man, wouldn't hold on to the lie for long.

"Let's go, Clint. I guess we can't prove anything... There's just no clues. I just hope they take me to the electric chair and this is over soon. Thanks for your time, Captain Rogers."

Barton seemed angry and threw a coin with which he'd been playing. The coin hit Rogers' glass and effectively shattered it. The best aim in the country, just as they said. Silvertongue gave him another melancholic green-eyed look and Steve knew he couldn't let that innocent man go to jail. He was better than that, he had values, standards. He promised Phil he wouldn't say anything... But god only knew what they'd done with Phil. Whoever had set up this whole thing was far more dangerous than this man who was just trying to prove his innocence - this man who was being framed. He had to speak up - for justice.

"Wait! You didn't hear from me, but Coulson was involved in something big. Fury and the rest are working on some new weapon, and improved version of the gun Coulson shot you with. Phil tells me they've an entire arsenal. And... apparently you are the only one who can shut them down. They're saying this new arsenal can take down people, stun them - without killing them and without lasting effects."

"But it does have lasting effects. That blue material is poisonous." Loki says, suddenly starting to understand.

"This whole thing is probably just to shut you up before you say anyhting. I imagine they want to use this thing on criminals, to catch them and then let them die in prison. I - I didn't object when I learned about it because I knew they knew about you, about your visits to the hospital, about the side effects and I thought the project was done. Over. But this is clearly an operation to take you out of the picture."

This gave a whole new light to the matter. Yes, they already knew (from the start) this was to take Loki down, but now they have a new angle: weapons.

"Thank you for this, Rogers. You truly are the captain of american values."

They left. Clint was confused.

"What did you mean the material they shot you with is poisonous? And you've been in the hospital? You dying and you didn't tell me?"

Loki's always been a man of fragile health, but he didn't expect this. He thought he knew all about his partner, he thought they had no secrets. But hell, the man known for his lies and half-truths. Maybe he'd been too naive to think Loki "lord of lies" told him everything.

"I'm fine." Loki said dismissively "We have to focus on this. Fury and the rest of them won't tell us a thing but there's someone else who controls weapons in this town."

Yes. He knew perfectly well who he was speaking about.

"Stark. But he hates us. I because I couldn't be bought and you threw him off a window."

They had a misunderstading, the two of them which had indeed ended with Stark flying out of a window. Most people thought Loki would be dead after that, but they understimated Loki's tricks.

"Yeah, well - but Stark has a weakness. Liquor... and pretty red headed ladies." Loki mentioned casually.

"Nat."

"Are you willing to ask her to do this for me, partner?"

Clint thought about it. Did he really want involve Natasha in all this?

But it was the only way he could think in Stark would talk to them. And they probably had a better chance at figuring everything out if they cound with her. He sighed.

"Yes. But only if you tell me about the poison and those lasting effects you've been hiding from me."

"Deal."

It was raining and while Clint and Loki got soaked in the streets of New York a russian spy was waiting.

Stark didn't stand a chance.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha Romanoff is a woman of many resources. Skilled with words and skilled in the arts of the non-verbal language, way too skilled for her many foes. She was deadly.

Born in Russia, she had been trained from a very young age to be a spy. Slowly but steadily, she became one of the best there were. She excelled at it. Be it for her beauty, for her curves and red hair or for her piercing eyes and soft voice... for whatever reason people always ended up telling her everything she needed to know. All of them did. She played with her minds as if they were toys. And there were parts that she enjoyed, to be honest. She would put on a black dress, smoke a cigarette and tell some poor man that she loved him, and eventually told her everything.

Until one mission in America where she'd been compromised and they sent a man to kill her. To stop her. A very good agent, who could have killed if he had wanted to. Clint.

At first, she only played his little game of feeling (the sadness, the regret, how she wanted to change the mistakes she'd done) to manipulate him into letting her go. There were no real feelings, just a big debt. He didn't only not kill her, he also gave her a new identity in a new city. A new life. Before she knew it, the feelings she'd been pretending to feel became real, genuine.

She hadn't wanted to love. Love was for children, a distraction.

But they were living together and Clint didn't seem to mind her engaging in shady activities with former and new employes. She helped her when she needed help. And since Clint rarely asked for her help, when he did she usually said yes. Especially if it was something as important as keeping Loki out of jail.

They didn't have the best of starts: when they met, she tried to play him. Loki had called her a mewling quim and she had called him a monster. It was a rocky start at best. They made up some time later over drinks. They even hugged, probably the effect of excess alcohol, something neither of them was used to and that they would thoroughly deny if asked. Anyways, Natasha had learned to love Loki. He was misleading, mischievous, strange. Not as american as the rest of men she knew, somehow. There was something alien about him. Which made her closer to him, somehow, as she was too a stranger in a strange strange land.

So there she is, clad in a tight black dress (they didn't call her the black widow for nothing) next to the very notorious Tony Stark. Arms dealer, millionaire, celebrity. Feared and loved in equal parts. The man is charismatic, but maybe too arrogant. Maybe a time on a cave in the middle of nowhere would do him some good.

"The lady's drink is on me" Stark says, like she knew he would.

Stark. He made his fortune after the war and had formed an empire of gadgets. Someone who knew everyone on the world of crime of New York and out of it too. He just knows everyone, just as everyone knows him. The big fish himself. And a big fish that had money for almost anything. A married man, too, but that had never seemed to stop him. Natasha doesn't envy that Pepper lady, not one bit.

"Mr. Stark... thank you. It's delicious." She says, suggestively sipping her scotch.

"And you are...?"

"Natalie Rushman, pleasure."

"Beautiful name, but not as beautiful as you" Stark smiles. "So, miss Rushman, what brings you to my corner of the city?"

"I was hoping to see you, actually. I have a business proposition." She says, smiling. She isn't on the mood of playing too much this time. This is too important, it needs to be addressed straight on.

Stark checks her out. God, this is annoying.

"See, now that sounds interesting."

"I hear you're on a new business. Changing your usual red for a new kind of blue." She says, mentioning the new weapons that they were investigating so he would spew what he knew about them.

"Really? That's what you heard? Yeah, they told me they'd been sending someone. Didn't know it would be so...pleasing."

"And I thought maybe you could use a partner in business." She gets close and whispers in his ear." Someone with a different set of... talents."

"While I would love to do any kind of business with you... That's not a line of work that should interest you, beauty. Blue weapons are no good."

"Why not? I hear it's all the rage now, the latest technology. And you always boasted of having the latest technologies, right? Or are you getting obsolete?"

"Honey, I'm just ahead of everybody else. Even Fury and his blue arms - they will make a lot of money, yes... but it will disappear. I have someone inside, close to Fury. Tells me every move they do...and this is a bad move, sweetie."

"Then maybe could tell me the name of this mysterious source so I make sure for myself it's that terrible."

"I'm afraid that's a no can do, muffin."

And that's when Loki comes out of the shadows wielding a gun. Natasha gives him a hard punch on his noble parts.

"You call me muffin again and it will be the last thing you do." The woman says, towering over him.

"I'm afraid we're not giving you any choices, Stark. Who's you informant. Now. Or maybe we should let Natalie work her magic again?"

Stark smiles.

"Loki, my friend! Do you want a drink?"

"The name, Stark." Barton says behind him while Loki still points his weapon at the man's head. Stark still looks at Loki, with a half-smile.

"You would want to know, wouldn't you? I know what it did to you, this project Tesseract. And since I kinda of like you and I'm not a big fan of Fury's... her name is Hill, Maria Hill. You'll find her in the boxing ring, she always bets on the Thunderer when he has a combat. He's an important part of the whole thing, I tell ya. You know him, don't you? Weren't you like brothers or something?"

Loki just looks away, not wanting to think about it. Not wanting to see again that wretched men he'd hated for so long. His brother. His father. And know he is going to have to question him to avoid going to jail.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll have that drink now."


	4. Chapter 4

There was violence in the air that night.

Maria Hill, commissioner Fury's right hand woman (even if officially she was only his secretary, it wouldn't look good to have a woman in such a high place) was ready to watch the fight. This night, like many others before, she was wearing men's clothes, hiding her hair on a hat, tired of big sweaty men throwing indecencies her way. She enjoyed watching boxing matches, but not all that it surrounded it. She enjoyed the fight, seeing the best fighter win. That was how things were supposed to be.

Also, she was wearing the disguise because she wanted to lay low, not be recognized. Things were getting heated at the station and many things could go very wrong. In a matter of hours, Silvertongue would be arrested for killing Coulson, even though she knew Coulson wasn't dead. And then there would be a trial and the man would be sentenced, probably to the chair. Then there would be no going back. They had become gangsters, all of them. Even the ones who were supposed to be the good ones. They had become polluted by power and built an arsenal instead thinking only in stopping crime.

No, now they were producing crime themselves. And like it or not, Maria was part of it.

She knew that when this whole mess inevitably exploded in their faces and Fury went down she would go down with him, too. That's why she couldn't say anything. She had invested too much. At first she'd been happy to help develop the technology for the new weapons. She had helped to keep it because she thought it would protect everyone from bigger evils. Help them be one step ahead from mobsters, help them fight crime better. Maybe she'd been too naïve. There were no people with good intentions anymore. Not in this time. Not in this dirty town.

Maybe she should have done like Barton and escaped while she could. Silvertongue was a shady individual, but at least he didn't hide under a mask of righteousness. Everybody knew he shouldn't be trusted.

People were roaring and cheering around her, waiting for the fighters to come out. It was the God of Thunder against the Destroyer, a man who claimed to be as strong as metal. It would be an even match, but Hill's money was on the Thunderer. A huge Viking blonde with a fist as strong as a war hammer. An incredible fighter who rarely lost. And an important part of the whole Tesseract ordeal.

A man wearing a black hat sat next to her, and another one wearing a brown one on the other side. She didn't like that.

"Hello, Hill. How's business lately?"

Clint Barton. Former colleague, former friend.

"Barton. Now, why should I tell you anything about how business is going?"

Hill sighed. He had recognized her and found her in less than a day. This was not good. And the man on her other side was a Silvertongue, of course.

"A cigarette, miss?"

He offered. Maria accepted and lighted it herself. One of the few pleasures they had left. Silvertongue was smoking too and throwing her a sideways smile.

"Come on, Maria. We were friends not so long ago." Said Barton on the other side. "Be nice with us. For old times' sake."

"I was nice, before you changed sides."

Barton was starting to lose his patience. Hill knew things they needed to know and they needed them now. Before things got even worse.

"I presume you know what we came here for." He said.

"I'm not going to tell you anything about Coulson, Clint. You'll just have to let the force do its work."

"The force has never been dirtier, Hill, and you know it, how rotten it has become. Everybody does. It has even reached the top branches… your dear Fury. We know this whole Coulson business is a front for a weapon business you have on your hands. Tell us where Coulson is, how we can find him and prove that Loki is innocent... and that way you can distance yourself from this whole terrible affair. Clean your name, Maria, jump from this house before it goes up in flames."

Hill was hesitant. There was part of her that really wanted to spit everything out and be free of that burden. Free of the lies. Do something clean for a change, be again the person she wanted to be when she joined the police. But then she would be betraying everyone she knew, everyone who she had sworn loyalty to. And she would get in a ton of trouble if they ever found out she had spoken. The man next to her took advantage of her doubts.

"Think about it, Miss Hill." Came Loki's smooth voice next to her "If you do tell us something, as small as it may be, you will helping an innocent man out of an unjust situation, and I would owe you a favor. Maybe fix those gaming debts?"

"How did you?…. Nevermind. I'll tell you only what I want to tell you, all right? And you didn't hear from me." There was a pause "Coulson's alive. They're hiding him until after they've gotten rid of you, Silvertongue."

"Where?" Asked Clint suddenly, feeling so close to resolving this whole matter.

Hill looked at Loki. The man was pale, underweight, fragile. He wouldn't last long in prison, he could be beaten to death before there was even a trial. And she didn't want to be responsible for this man's death, innocent or not. She had hoped to avoid the issue, ignore it until it was over, but that was obviously not an option anymore. Well, she'd have to try and make the best of this.

"You'll fix my debts, all of them?" She asked. Loki nodded. "Also, there was an incident with an older man… I was very young and… well, could you erase it, too?"

"Consider it done." Loki said and took another drag of his cigarette. That was the kind of job he enjoyed. Sneaky, silent, effective.

"You'll have to ask your brother for the location. Asgard enterprises helped develop the project and they 'd been there every step of the way. Especially the old man, Odin. I hear our friend Thor was the one voice who spoke against this whole plan. But he's the heir, he probably has access to all the info he wants."

It was a good lead, indeed. They were getting closer.

"Thanks for your help, Maria. Let me invite to a drink some other time, all right?" Clint said, happy.

"Now shush. I want to see the fight."

They wouldn't be able to speak to Thor until it was over, so Clint and Loki stayed there and watched the fight too. Loki was uneasy and sad. He hadn't spoken to Thor in a very long time and he had been troubled to hear that the big man had defended him in front of Odin. And much more trouble to hear that their father was involved in the whole business.

He dreaded that reunion.

It was dark in New York. And when a certain blonde boxer appeared in the ring, Loki's day got many shades darker.

A/N: Next time will be Thor time! I just saw _Sweet smell of success_ (great movie, btw) and realized how much smoking was involved, so I added some cigarettes.

Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are always lovely ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Thor was the golden prince, the heir to the to the conglomerate (or should we say kingdom?) that was Asgard. A terrifyingly powerful enterprise that was run strictly by the big bad Odin, a white-haired businessman from another country, nobody knew exactly where.

Thor could have simply stayed behind his father, been a good little heir. But he liked the fight and war a bit too much. He liked the taste of blood in his mouth. He liked the the expression of defeat in his rival's eyes when they inevitably lost. And this was a good thing in times of conflict, a good motivation, an important feeling, but it could be dangerous it times of peace.

So Thor fought.

In the dirtiest, most underground places he fought, he fought against rascals, hobos, druggies or on a good day, against professional boxers. His blue eyes shined like sapphires in the middle of the dirt, in the middle of the darkness, in the middle of rotten teeth and people screaming. He was like a god amongst them. A god with a body made to fight. And fight he did.

Gambling in boxing matches was another one of the dark industries that were blooming in New York in the last years. Bought fighters, rotten dealers, fixed combats and speculation everywhere. But even the most stupid of the people who bet knew not to do it against the God of thunder. A man who could not be bought /he didn't need the money, after all/ and a man with the fist of the gods. The perfect embodiment of the force and brutality of old vikings. Unstoppable.

So, that night, when Thor defeated the very impressive Destroyer, no one was surprised. They knew that was the only option. He winked an eye to his girl, the lovely Lady Jane Foster, and left the ring victorious. But as he left the boxing ring, his smile also disappeared. As much as he was happy and felt complete on the ring, his life was not so bright.

When he was fighting there was only his opponent and him in the world, no time for thinking, no time for second guesses, just instincts and fight, and the woman he loved watching him in awe. It was his natural environment. But when he got out his real life came back again with all its shadows. Si many unwelcome memories, past mistakes. His father's dark rule. The thought of his brother, who had let go on him on that bridge and fallen. He was never quite the same after that. Dark days and dark nights.

He didn't want the sweet aftertaste of the fight to end, so when he was told that someone was looking for him, while he was changing to his regular clothes, he refused to see them. His sad life could wait a little longer while he wallowed on the victory.

"Unless it's the Lady Jane, I will see no one." He boomed with his grave voice.

"Ok, 'll tell him to leave. He's probably just a fan, he says he's your brother, but he looks nothing like you."

Now, that set a lot of alarms for Thor.

"Pale, thin, tall, green eyes~"

"Yes."  
That was him. That was his description.

"Loki... Let him in this instant."

And so Loki and his silent partner Barton appeared on the changing room. Loki-s appearance shook Thor more than he would ever care to admit. Could he really be there? Could it be true? Could his brother have decided to speak to him again? He would have hoped to meet his brother again in better circumstances, when he wasn't all sweaty and bruised from the fight, but... who cared? The sight of his brother, after, so many years... he wasn't like he remembered him. Had he always been so pale? So melancholic? And those shadows under his eyes... As changed as he may be it was him, that was his face. It was his brother after so long. Thor could do nothing but hug him with all his considerable force. His brother did not return it, he just there impassive.

"Loki! It's been so long... I thought you were dead."

"Did you mourn me?" Loki asked with his usual brand of dry irony. He sighed. "This ain't a social call, brother. I didn't come here because I wanted to see you again. In fact, if I could have avoided it I would."

The poorly lit room felt colder, suddenly.

Loki took a cigarette and lit it, calmly.

"You have probably heard about that missing police officer, and how I'm the main suspect. Well, we know that the man is alive and we want to find him and show to the world that he-s not dead, and thus I didn't kill him."

"This is news to me, Loki."

"But project Tesseract is not, right, brother?"

"No, I am part of that project. I don't understand many of the working or the specifics but father says it is a very good business. That is very important to the company."

"So important that he is willing to put me in jail." Loki muttered under his breath while taking another drag of his cigarette.

"But this is good." Barton said. "It means Thor can go to thee enterprise headquarters and ask for details, maybe access some documents or talk to someone who knows where Coulson is. Tell us, blonde guy, how far are you willing to go to save your brother from jail_"

"As far as I need to go,"

"That would mean you would betray father's trust."

"If what you say is true and father is trying to frame you, then I'm happy to be working against him."  
It was still raining when they went out. The plan for the night was simple, go to the main building where Thor would ask to see everything related to the Tesseract project. Then, the secretary would leave, leaving Thor alone in the building. He would let Loki and Barton in and they would search the place until they found something decent.

And they did.

All the dirty details, the cops that had been paid off, engineers and doctors bribed to keep quiet about the materials flaws. Thor was getting more disenchanted with the his father and the enterprise he was supposed to be a part of. He lit a cigarette.

"There's an address here." Barton called from the other side of the room. "And under it's written: classified P. T."

"Project Tesseract" Loki deduced.

Thor went to where Barton and saw the address written in the file with black ink.

"I know this adress. Is where Banner lives!"

"Banner?"

"Bruce Banner. He is a physicist, but sometimes he gets angry and fights, in the ring. Only occasionally, but he is good. He has been the only the only to defeat me so far... Maybe you have the announcements. _Green with rage! Man or monster? It's the Hulk!"_

Loki took his hat from the table and retrieved his trench coat.

"Well, brother, it seems that you friend/scientist/rage monster is our next stop."

When they went out, it was still night, it was still dark.

The mystery still unsolved.

A/N: Reviews are always welcome.

Hope you enjoyed!


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